A FORMER RAF airwoman who served during the Second World War has celebrated her 100th birthday.

Pat Ryan celebrated the occasion at her Lyme Regis home on Saturday, July 24 by having a lunch with her children and grandchildren.

Mrs Ryan was born in Crosshaven, Republic of Ireland, in 1921. She has eight children, 13 grandchildren and 12 great grandchildren. After attending primary school in Ireland she then moved to a boarding school in Farnborough, Hampshire.

At the start of the war in 1939, Mrs Ryan joined the Women's Auxiliary Air Force (WAAF) as an airwoman with her first posting being at the Air Ministry located at Adastral House in Kingsway, London.

Following this, she was posted to RAF Debden in Essex as a plotter for Fighter Command. During her time there she scrambled Spitfires and Hurricanes during the Battle of Britain. Whilst at RAF Debden she lived in Saffron Walden.

She was later posted to RAF Finningley and Bomber Command where she helped to plan the RAF component for the raid on Dieppe, a German occupied port in Northern France. Mrs Ryan recalled training American servicemen in the operations room when they came into the war. Her sister, Mary England - who passed away in 1997 at the age of 97 - was also in the WAAF for the same period of time.

Mrs Ryan met her husband following the war at Tidworth Garrison where he was a captain in the Royal Army Medical Corps. They later lived in Ripley in Derbyshire where her husband practised as a GP.

Mr and Mrs Ryan moved to Lyme Regis in 1992, following their retirement.

Mrs Ryan was presented with a pilot teddy bear on Saturday by members of the Bridport and Lyme Regis Royal Air Forces Association (RAFA).

When asked about her longevity, Mrs Ryan revealed her secret, which is 'no smoking, minimal alcohol and above all a good sense of humour'.